


Cinnamon Topography

by wedelia



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Crushes, F/M, Fluff, overuse of movie quotes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-13 08:05:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11755566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wedelia/pseuds/wedelia
Summary: MJ likes movies, Peter likes MJ, and Ned would like to see his friends address their feelings for each other sometime before they graduate.





	Cinnamon Topography

    “My friends call me MJ,” says Michelle.

    And Peter doesn’t want to be presumptuous, but he _does_ want to be her friend, so he makes a mental note. MJ.

    It suits her.

-

    Peter doesn’t know exactly when the feelings started, but one day he’s sitting behind MJ in class and he catches himself ruminating over how funny her jokes are and how nice it would be to go on a date with her. And he thinks, _Whoa. When did this happen?_

Probably around the time he started calling her MJ, he’ll decide later.

-

    Peter needs advice from someone with experience in this kind of thing, and he thinks it would be awkward to ask Aunt May. So.

    “Mr. Stark, you’re okay at relationships, right?”

    There’s a long pause. Peter pulls the phone away from his ear after a few seconds to check if the call disconnected.

    Then Tony says, “Kiddo, I’m probably not qualified to give you advice about your awkward teenage love life, if that’s where this conversation is heading. Actually, scratch that, I’m _definitely_ not qualified. I'm the last person on Earth who should be telling anyone how to have a healthy relationship.”

    “You're in one right now, though,” Peter points out.

    He can hear the smile in Tony’s voice when he says, “Touché.”

    “Look, Mr. Stark,” says Peter. “I really like this girl, but she’s, like, five hundred light years out of my league. What should I do?”

    Tony laughs. “I know that feeling. And, God, this sounds sickeningly cliché, but you should really just be yourself, Peter. You’re a nice kid.”

    Peter groans. “Mr. Stark….”

    “I know, I know,” Tony says. “Have you tried showing her that you’re interested in things she’s interested in? That might work.”

    Peter mulls it over. “Hmm. Okay.”

    Tony lets out a relieved breath. “All right, that’s a wrap on the relationship advice. Let’s talk about those new suit upgrades I’m planning for you --”

-

    “Hey, Ned,” Peter says. “Do you know what stuff MJ likes?”

    Ned looks up from the LEGO Death Star he’s painstakingly reassembling. “Huh?”

   “You know, like, does she have any hobbies? Other than sketching people in crisis and reading.”

   “I think she wants to be a movie director,” Ned says. “She told me one time that she wants to promote minority representation in mainstream media. And she sits next to me in my Film Studies class.”

   Peter blinks. “Oh.”

   Then, “Do you mind if I borrow your Film Studies notes?”

-

    Peter starts finding ways to drop iconic cinematic quotes into conversations he notices MJ’s within earshot of, hoping it makes him come across as cool and knowledgable. Mostly he thinks he just succeeds in making himself sound like a dork.

    While talking with Ned about the probably-abysmal grade Peter made on the Pre-Cal quiz he’d fallen asleep halfway through, Peter says, “Frankly, my dude, I don’t give a damn.”

    On the phone with Mr. Stark before school, after Tony makes a comment about how it’s tough to babysit from such a long distance (and after Peter stops bristling at the idea that he needs babysitting): “We’ll always have Berlin.”

    “Parker. Peter Parker,” is how Peter introduces himself to the new kid who joins Academic Decathlon, Harry something.

    And at the beginning of a practice Super Quiz™-like game involving the buzzers that Mr. Harrington drags out of the closet in his classroom a couple times a year, Peter tells his team, “This game moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it.”

    Finally Ned has to stage an intervention. He puts a hand on Peter’s shoulder and says, “Peter. Buddy. I love you, but this is starting to get weird.”

    Then, once he takes in Peter’s nonplussed expression, he says it in a different way: “Quotes? Where you’re going, you don’t need quotes.”

-

    MJ’s not oblivious. She’s probably the least oblivious person Peter knows, in fact, whip-smart and able to come up with clever remarks at the drop of a hat, which means it’s almost inevitable that she picks up on the fact that something’s going on. She corners him in the library one day after school and asks, “Why are you doing all of this, Peter?”

She looks at him expectantly, arms crossed, mouth flat.

    It’s now or never.

    “Go out with me,” Peter blurts. “I mean, if you want to. I just wanted to let you know that I...uh, that I want to, if that’s something that you might, you know, want...too.”

    MJ giggles.

    Peter’s never seen her do that before. He stares, awed and baffled and still jittery from nerves. It says something about how gone he is over her that he’s less embarrassed about being giggled at by the girl he just asked out than he is happy that he made her laugh.

    “That’s the most confusing way I’ve ever been asked on a date,” MJ says, like it’s a compliment. She’s _smiling._ Smiling at _him_.

    Peter’s thoughts are mostly just a string of _!!!!!!!!!!!_

“Um. Thanks?”

    MJ keeps smiling. Then she says, adopting a gruff Italian accent, “I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.”

    _She’s quoting movies at me,_ Peter thinks, overwhelmed. _That’s really cute when she does it._

    MJ says, “You and I are going to go see a movie together on Friday. We’ll share a popcorn, and if you behave yourself I’ll let you hold my hand.”

    Peter beams at her. “That sounds amazing.”

    MJ grins back at him. “Just promise me that you’ll stop pretending to be a movie buff. It’s painful to watch.”

    Peter laughs, rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah. I can do that.”

**Author's Note:**

> I opened a Google Doc to work on one of my WIPs and...this happened.
> 
> A list of movies quoted in this fic: Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, the James Bond movies, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Back to the Future, and the Godfather.


End file.
